First Impressions

I don’t even know where to begin. I’ve only been here about three days, and I never want to leave. First things first, my flight was great – KLM treats you really well, feeds you almost every hour (they had gluten free bread on the plane!) As soon as I got to the volunteer house, we were immediately in a cab and on our way downtown. There were about six of us new people and a guy that lives in the house but works for the organization. We grabbed a bite to eat and went to a bar, a great way to get to know each other. On Sunday a few more new people came, and then the rest of the volunteers came home (they were on a safari for the weekend.) In total, there are about 22 of us in a house that should probably only fit a dozen, but everyone is super cool. We are all from different parts of the world, mostly North America and the UK. Only two people came together, so everyone is out here on there own. I already feel like I’ve made some great friends, these people are just all very laid back and great to hang out with. We’ve all said that now when we are travelling, we will have places to stay in Canada, London, New Orleans, Nashville, pretty much anywhere I could go.

On Monday we had our orientation. We learned more about the program and the rules of the house, and then we toured the city. We got to see where to do our grocery shopping, where the bank is, etc. We then went into the township, which is the really poor part of town. I don’t know how to express it in words, it is just something you only think exists in a movie. It is terrible to think that people spend their whole lives in a place like that. The strange thing is, most people seem really happy, and you can have a friendly conversation with anyone on the street. South Africans are very warm hearted people. After that, we got to go to the school that we will be working at. It’s a little nicer than some of the other schools in the area, but still nothing even close to an American elementary school. Finally we went into downtown Cape Town, which was a challenge this time. The train crews are on strike, so it took quite a long time to transfer between several busses and taxis. We went to a market and just walked around, noting where all the cool places to hang out were.

Our house is modest, kind of like a summer surf house, but the atmosphere is that of a house on the Real World. Lots of fun people! Today, (Tuesday,) we had our first day of work. I walk in the room and I am greeted by 40 smiling children standing and saying “Good Morning, teacher!” There is a main teacher that teaches the lessons, but I get to help facilitate. I spent a lot of my time keeping them quiet and walking around the room answering individual questions so that the teacher can continue with the main lesson. When the kids are learning their English, I am able to help a lot, but when the lesson is in Afrikaans, I am completely lost. Recess is officially my favourite part of the day. The four volunteers that were at my school got to be kids again – we played soccer, jumped rope, and gave piggy back rides! The kids are so happy to have somebody new to play with. After recess, my class (6th graders, by the way) was given a 30-minute lesson on Human Trafficking. I sat in the back in a shocked silence. They were taught what it means to be kidnapped and sold into slavery, and how not to fall for the common tricks that strangers use. It was not just your ordinary “don’t take candy from a stranger” talk. It was something that should never have to be taught in a school, but it’s actually probably for the better that these kids know what to look out for.

I feel so guilty being in the school and thinking about all the things I have wasted at school myself. For the same amount of money that I spend on a textbook that I only use once, I could give the kids basic things that they can’t afford like pencils and glue. For glue, the children just have one large bucket that they dip their hands in and then rub on the paper. They then have to spend the next few minutes scraping the glue off of their hands. They don’t have a pencil sharpener, just a small blade that they have to chip at the pencil with, but they cut their fingers in the process. The kids get fed some porridge in the morning, and I am told that for some of these kids, it is their only meal in the day, and that their meal on Friday morning is the last they will have until Monday. And here I was feeling hungry, but I had just eaten breakfast a few hours ago. Within just one day in the school I have already come to appreciate my own schooling so much, and I’m sure that this will go on the more time I spend with the children.
The day ended way too early, so we went to the beach, which is absolutely breathtaking. The views from anywhere in the city are amazing; mountains and beaches within minutes of each other.

Wow, this post was way too long, but I had a lot to say about my first few days. Kudos to you for reading on this far. Everyone that I live with is in love with this country and wants to stay later than they were originally intending to, myself included. Peace out – I’ll try to update again in a few days, but I’m enjoying my time here way too much that it’s hard to find a few minutes to set aside to blog.